There’s are two phrases I might shout out when I hear somebody come down the road of life saddled with a certain sort of name.
Yes, I did this even before I wrote for BoFN.
Say baseball player like Henry Aaron comes strutting to the plate. From me in the stands, or my recliner, would come: Get a last name!
Or if I were in a different mood:
Get a first name!
It does depend on how you look at it, doesn’t it?
So what do we make of Ward Wellington Ward, an architect who designed houses 100 years ago that are still quite famous in my hometown of Syracuse today.
Get another name! just doesn’t quite do it justice.
Ward W. Ward (From syraccusethenandnow.com)
From syracusethenandnow.com:
Ward Wellington Ward moved from New York City to Syracuse, New York, in 1908 to practice architecture. During the next eighteen years, he designed over 200 private residences in upstate New York. Most of these works stand today as eloquent testimony to Ward’s talent and show him to be a figure of historical importance within the Arts and Crafts movement in America.
And from WikiPedia:
Twenty-six homes and two other buildings designed by Ward and located within the city of Syracuse were listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 14, 1997.
He was influenced by, and contributed to, the Arts and Crafts movement in architecture. Ward’s work is in varying styles, but the houses most typically include crafts-like details such as decorative cutouts in shutters. His designs almost always include garages, gateways, and other small structures like gazebos.
Yet somebody had to give this poor guy the same first name as his last name. At least his middle name is a mouthful in the middle of that Ward sandwich.
I came across a Ward Wellington Ward house during Liverpool Village Walking Tour at work last week.
Now that’s a Triple W house.
It sits a couple blocks from the Liverpool Public Library, and really is quite striking.
My great and longtime friends Theresa and David live in a Ward Wellington Ward house, brought back to a most beautiful state by their loving care.
But I can only imagine what it was like to live with that name.
Ward Ward all through school? Kids don’t use middle names, do they?
Ward Wellington Ward lived to be just 57, and spent the last six years of his life in a hospital. What ward did they have to go to visit Ward Ward?
Wonder if it all would have went down differently if his parents had named him William.
wow, that’s quite a handle. i think i would have just called him ‘triple dub’, had i known him )
Another good nickname would have been “Beef.” I think, Beth. 🙂
))
Reminds me of writer Ford Madox Ford, though changing his last name to his first name was (thankfully) his own choice.
Some people! Thanks for informing me, well informed namer. 🙂
They made me read his The Good Soldier in college. Not my fave!
Ha! You win, Diddy.
Firstly, Ward is a upsetting first name. I personally have trouble with all those people whose first names are last names. It’s an upper class thing, and mired as I am with the proletarians, I just don’t get it. Secondly, or was it thirdly? Having the same last name as first name is inherently sadistic. My favorite is Joseph Heller’s Major Major. All the best to bofn!
Yes, Bumba, Ward got shorted, for sure! Thanks for the wishes to BoFN!
Cool Mark!
The houses are awesome, Paul. 🙂
Somehow, I feel I need a ward to ward off all the Wards . . .
And he did make me think of Ford Madox Ford too. Good find.
Ford Ford, meet Ward Ward. Thanks, Tracy. 🙂
Now that sounds like an excuse for Double Mint gum. Cheers.
Ward-squared, methinks. That’s odd that parents would do that. What were they thinking? is the easy question but probably they were not or were more concerned about something far more important. Names aside, his houses look amazing. Talented folk found here at BoFN 😀
The inside of his houses rock, too, Liz. Lasting impressions! 🙂
AwkWARD! (－ｏ⌒)
Perfect line, NBC. 🙂
Any reWard? I like Fish! (>‿◠)✌
Holy Mackerel!
LOL…~(=^･･^)ﾉ>ﾟ)##)彡
William Carlos Williams thinks Ward Wellington Ward has a redundant name with too many W’s. Maybe they can both join the Padres, because our team has been starved for W’s lately…
Yes, I wish W’s to the Padres, save for when they play the Mets, King Dave.
You meant *saves* right? So that we can pad Fernando Rodney’s stat line, and know the Padres are ending the 7th inning with a lead. That’s what you meant, right…. right?!?
If you must think so, King Dave. 🙂
Wowzers! And I thought the only Wards were Montgomery and Mr. Cleaver! W is already a long enough letter to pronounce, and then to have saw it thrice, is a mouthful. At least he died before the worldwide web took his initials.
I never thought of that, Kerbey. Maintaining his web site would have been quite the chore. 🙂
“. . . Mark wields words well on Ward Wellington Ward . . .”
“. . . Mark’s words on Ward Wellington Ward should be winning awards . . .”
“. . . Mark my word, Mark’s world class words on Ward Wellington Ward will be well remembered on WordPress . . .”
I should have given you this Bon mot for your blurbs, Diddy. The high school from which I graduated: Ward Melville. No foolin’!
Durn right yuh shoulda! Then I could have written
“. . . this Ward Melville grad wields words wondrously well on Ward Wellington Ward . . .”
Or something like that.
Exactly like that, Diddy. Perfectly like that. 🙂